The Fossil Guy: “Paleontology Under the Magnifying Glass”
Event Details
Contact Name: Sarah Horgen
Email: sarah-horgen@uiowa.edu
Phone: 319-335-0606
Website: http://www.uiowa.edu/~nathist/programs.html
Event Description
What can we learn about ancient ecosystems including climate, the diversity of life, and predator/prey relationships from the smallest fossils found in geological formations around the world? See & touch tiny fossils of plants and animals from the Late Cretaceous (100 – 66 MYA), Oligocene (34 – 23 MYA), and Pleistocene (2.6 MYA – 11,700 years ago). Try to identify these tiny fossils using magnifying glasses & a microscope. To emphasize the dramatic difference in size between the smallest and largest animals during these time periods, those in attendance can see & touch a fossil shoulder blade of Triceratops, a fossil skull of the large hornless rhino Subhyracodon, & a fossil femur and replica claw of the giant ground sloth Eremotherium. Finally, Learn about the collecting of tiny fossils including the identification of microsites and the process of sorting through modern anthills in fossil-bearing formations.
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
17 N Clinton St
Iowa City, IA
319-335-0480
